Lioness
by Jen27ny
Summary: Jaime decided to visit his sister, but things turned terrible wrong as her fan enters the dressing room and a mango blows his cover. /Modern AU


As it knocked on the door, Jaime Lannister started to panic. Normally he wasn't one to panic, thinking that he could deal with anything, that there was nothing his charming smile, his looks and some witty comment couldn't deal with.

Well, he certainly never had been in the dressing room of his sister – which he wasn't suppose to be in –, who nobody knew was Cersei Lannister – and nobody should find out, which they would find out if they saw him –, only dressed in a white, fluffy bathrobe – because in her rage Cersei had spilled all her wine over him – with no way to escape.

Even a Lannister had to learn that there was a first time for everything.

For a second he just looked at the door like a deer caught in the headlights. It knocked again and he felt the panic boiling hotly in his stomach.

He was busted. Cersei would be busted, then cut of his head – probably eat it as well –, hide his body and pretend she never had a twin brother. And that was the best scenario.

"Miss Lioness? Are you there?" the security guard who was standing at the other side of the door asked. "Are you alright?"

With 18 years, Cersei had become one of the biggest role models for young girls. Not as Cersei Lannister of course, because their father, Tywin Lannister, wouldn't let her _disgrace _the family name by _doing something so utterly stupid and useless_. So she wore a dark brown wig, got a washable tattoo of a Lion on her shoulder and faked a dornish accent to turn into _Lioness_, a former singer and performer, now tv-host, model and designer.

The girls adored her because she delivered the image of a strong, independent woman, who could earn money on her own and had her own mind. The men still have too much to say in Cersei's eyes. Apparently, every other female creature had the same thoughts, because Lioness became one of the most famous celebrities in barely two years.

Fourteen years after she had her debut, several stupid ex-boyfriends, a divorced marriage, three attempts of arranged-marriages by their father, too many scandals in the newspapers and a way too fondly love of wine later, Cersei didn't really liked her job anymore. She realized that Lioness had some power and was loved by her fans. Cersei Lannister, on the other hand, not. Cersei had just as many scandals about her, as Lioness had a growing fanbase. She became bitter, but didn't want to let Lioness go at the same time. So she would still put on her wig, draw on the tattoo and talk with an accent, even though she drank way too much to do it with a smile. And Lioness always smiles.

Jaime gulped. Cersei ran off a few minutes earlier, still angry about Jaime's comment that the new debut-singer _Rose_, better known as Margaery Tyrell, would become the new Lioness, if Cersei didn't pay more attention to it. Before she ran, she had poured the whole bottle of a very expensive red wine over him. Everyone knew that wine stains never wash out, so Jaime threw them all away, leaving him only in the bathrobe.

The twins always had been really close and sometimes Jaime wondered, what would had happen if Cersei hadn't decided to be Lioness and stood up for the women. The possibility that they would have turned from siblings to lovers didn't seem that impossible for him, though he didn't dare to think too much about it.

Jaime himself was a famous boxer, winning his first championship with barely nineteen years. He became some kind of legend and the twins were always supportive for each other. Now she was disgusted that he earned his money by beating up other people. He came here today, after one of her shows, to talk to her, maybe get her to change Lioness' image. She didn't listen.

"Miss Lioness?" the security guard called again.

Jaime's emerald eyes darted to the way too small window. No chance he would get through that. Beside, they were on the sixth floor. He looked in the mirror, begging his reflection for help – until his eyes fell on the brown wig.

It was a crazy idea and there was a huge possibility that it would not work … but Seven Hells, he didn't really had any choice.

"Yes," Jaime shouted in a high-pitched voice with a really bad dornish accent. "Yes, I'm alright. Don't come in!" He tried to sound as snappy as Cersei, but then remembered that Lioness wasn't snappy. "Please. I … uh … I'm naked!"

"Uh," the guard said, which sounded too much like _I didn't need to know that_. He cleared his throat. "Well, I'm sorry to interrupt, but the winner of the game from _King's Landing Weekly_ is here. Should I send her in?"

"Just … just wait a second! I need to get dressed!" Quickly, he grabbed the wig and put it on. He could see nothing but brown hair and realized, that the back was at the front. Clumsily he tried to turn it the right way around, which resulted in a disaster. Even though he had perfect golden locks, he never used anything else than his fingers to comb them. Cersei would kill him if he ruined her wig.

As the wig was properly in its place, Jaime looked into the mirror again. Everyone always said how much they looked alike – right now, Jaime realized that they did not look alike, because he looked nothing like Lioness, but like a man wearing the brown wig. He didn't had the face of a woman. While he tucked some loose strands of hair underneath the wig with one hand, he reached for one of those face-masks with the other. He always thought Cersei looked absolutely ridiculous with those, but they would hopefully hide his features well enough. With a sigh of relieve he remembered, that he did shave earlier. At least no beard to hide as well. Ripping it open with his teeth, Jaime put the wet, weird smelling kind-of-clothing on his face. His eyes fell down to his chest, his hands halfway there to tighten the bathrobe over his muscular and slightly haired chest, until he stopped.

His chest. There was a big difference between their chests.

Cersei had breasts.

Jaime didn't.

In that moment, he really thought he would start to hyperventilate. He could hide his definitively not womanly legs under the long bathrobe and the table. Maybe he could even cover his broad shoulders somehow. But Lioness wasn't voted _Sexiest Woman in Westeros_ three times in a row – Cersei herself was only fifth place – for _not_ having tits.

Luckily, he remembered the basket of fruits that she got as a welcoming gift. Quickly he grabbed it, took two mangoes and shoved them inside of his robe. They almost fell out of it, but Jaime arranged the bathrobe and crossed his arms under the fruits to support them.

This could work.

Hopefully.

Probably not.

Quickly, Jaime prayed to the Seven, the old gods and R'hllor, because he would need all the help he could get.

"Okay," he shouted, not quite sure what to say. That was a first as well. "I'm ready now. Send her in, please."

A second later, the door opened and a big guy, dressed in black with a little wire that stuck out of his ear, appeared in the doorway. Jaime hadn't turned around, sitting in front of the big mirror and hiding his legs under the table."This is Brienne Tarth, the winner of the game." He shoved in a girl and then closed the door again.

At first, Jaime thought that it must be a joke. It would have been way easier for him to pretend to be that _girl_ than to be Cersei. The girl – Brienne – must have been around 18 years and she was tall. Her shoulders were broader than his, her blond hair was thin and straight as straw, her skin covered in freckles, she was dressed poorly, no noticeable curves or breasts and even from this distance he could see, that her mouth was too wide and her nose had been broken at least twice. She was utterly ugly.

That was until she raised her gaze from the floor to look him straight in the eyes. Brienne had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Shades of blue he had never seen before, that reminded him of the sky, the ocean and the night sky and they shone with excitement, admiration and respect.

Immediately Jaime was glad that it was him instead of Cersei. Cersei would have crushed her, Lioness or not. He could at least pretend to be nice.

"Well, hello there," he said, but even in his ears he sounded nothing like Lioness. His visitor seemed to notice, too, because she started to frown. "You must excuse my voice, darling. My throat is a bit sore from my last performance." He did remember that she sang earlier tonight, however he wanted to change the topic quickly. "Congratulation on winning the game."

"Thank you," she said, already forgetting why Lioness sounded nothing like she usually did. "I'm just … I'm really …You're -" She cleared her throat, obviously being too nervous to say anything that made any sense at all. Jaime had to bite his tongue to not say anything witty. Brienne had something in her hands – he suspect it was a photo for an autograph –, nearly crushing it. "I've been following your career since I'm six years old. You're such an inspiration and my hero and idol and your song _Princess _helped me so much during my high school years."

All he did was smile and nodded from time to time, but he almost panicked – again – as he couldn't really recall the song she was talking about. For him, all of Cersei's songs sounded the same. Was it the song about personality being more important than looks? Sometimes Jaime really wondered, how Cersei could write songs that she did not relate to at all.

However, Brienne didn't noticed where his mind wandered. She just kept talking, obviously relieved that she was able to actually start talking. "You're the first woman to show the men that women can do something and be successful as well and I just want to be like you. Well, not exactly like you, I can't really sing, but I'm boxing for years now and I want to take part in the next championship." Suddenly she seemed to remember that she had something in her hands. "Could you maybe -"

"Wait, what?" Jaime couldn't help but turn around and stare at her. He forgot his legs, but luckily not his arms. Brienne blinked and stared at his legs, though she didn't say anything. "You're boxing?" She nodded slowly. That would explain her broken nose and, well, her figure wasn't that bad for boxing either. "And you want to go to the championship? It's only for men! There are no women in there! You can't participate." Jaime, being in his rage that this girl tried to step into _his_ championship, didn't realized that he slipped back into his own voice.

"I …. I- You- ," she stuttered, not finding the right words. Her eyes darted to his legs, his feet, his shoulders and ran over his not-womanly figure. Jaime still didn't noticed.

"You're a girl!" he said, pointing at her with one hand.

As he heard the soft impact, he realized his mistake.

Shit.

His right boob – the mango – had fallen out of the bathrobe, slowly rolling over the floor, slightly in Brienne's direction. Her blue eyes were fixed on the fruit for a second, then she looked at the now empty and exposed spot on his chest and finally, she looked into his eyes.

Jaime gulped.

"You're a man," she almost whispered.

"Fuck," he whispered back. He was going to die. She would tell them and then they would all find out who Lioness really is and then his dear sister would really kill him. His father probably, too. Oh gods, his father …

"You're a man," she said again, this time more steady. "You're not Lioness." Slowly, she was taking a step back. Quickly, Jaime jumped to his feet – the other mango crashed on the floor as well – reaching to grab her by the arm. She didn't fight him, but seemed to be in a trance or shock. This close, he could see that she was just an inch, maybe an inch and a half, smaller than him.

"Don't tell anybody," Jaime said in a low voice, almost threatening. "We will both be in a lot of trouble, if you tell anybody."

"Why should I get in trouble?" Because Jaime didn't know any good answer, he just shrugged, hoping to maybe scare the girl a bit. On the other side, she didn't looked like the kind of girl, that was scared easily. "Who - … Why - … You-"

"C'mon, darling, can't you finish just one sentence?" He really didn't intend to say that – it would have been way wiser to not say it – but it had just slipped out of his mouth. Brienne blinked at him once, twice, and then she suddenly stood straighter.

"You are not Lioness." That wasn't a question. Before he could even get the chance to say anything, she raised her hands to the face-mask and the wig. Somehow Jaime had expect her to rip both off of him, out of anger or frustration, but she was surprisingly gentle. At the same time he knew, that she would know, who he was. He was a famous boxer and she was boxing as well. Besides, even people that weren't into boxing recognized him. After all he was a Lannister.

As soon as Brienne held both, mask and wig, in her hands, she took a sharp breath. He had been right. She did recognize him. "The Lion," she said. That was his boxer-nickname, because of the sigil of his family and the lions on his cloves. Sometimes he wondered how people haven't made the connection between The Lion and Lioness yet.

"Yes, that's me," he said. "I'm afraid I can't get you Lioness' autograph, but you could get mine instead."

"Why the hells are you in Lioness' dressing room?"

"Just visiting my dear sister."

Another mistake. Tyrion was right, he was an idiot. He should think before he acts, not the other way round. Got him into trouble way too many times. And apparently, it still does.

Brienne wasn't stupid – even though she did look stupid with her mouth agape – and figured out, what that meant. "Cersei Lannister is … she is … Lioness." Jaime nodded. Strangely, the fact that her idol was Cersei Lannister seemed to bother her more than that Jaime Lannister instead of Lioness was standing in front of her. On the other hand, Cersei had turned into the total opposite of Lioness. With a hint of guilt, Jaime remembered the glimmer in her eyes as she thought she was meeting Lioness.

Slowly, Brienne freed her arm from his grip and took a few steps back. She wasn't looking at him, but just at the photograph in her hands. "She is Cersei … Cersei Lannister is her … She … Oh gods, she is not real."

"You never really thought that Lioness was actually real, do you? I mean, it's obviously that Lioness is not a real name."

"I thought it would be a woman that actually meant what she was talking about," Brienne spit out. Tears shone in her eyes, making them glitter even more. But instead of excitement, admiration or respect he could only see anger, disappointment and frustration in them. "I thought … I thought, she would care …"

Jaime couldn't say anything. Cersei had cared; once. But not anymore. And it clearly wouldn't help to say that. Part of him wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how. Almost frozen, he stood there, watching Brienne process that her idol was not the person she thought she was.

He jumped into action, however, as Brienne started to turn around. "No, wait!" he almost screamed, but remembered the guard outside. He grabbed her shoulder again and turned her around. At first she tried to shake him off, but turned around eventually. "Do not tell anyone. Nobody knows I'm here and if they find out, everyone will figure out who Lioness is."

"Maybe they should find it out. Maybe they deserve the truth."

"And then she will skin me alive for screwing it up. Please, darling."

"My name is Brienne."

"Please, _Brienne_." He couldn't help but rolling his eyes. It was as if he could already see those headlines. _Lioness is company-tycoon's daughter Cersei Lannister_. _Twin found in her dressing room, pretending to be her. Thousands of fans disappointed._"I beg you, don't tell anyone. Do you want to have some tickets for the next championship? I'll get you some. VIP-Tickets. You'll meet everyone. How does that sound?"

"You can't bribe me," she said again. For a moment, she just looked him into the eyes, and it really unnerved him that she was almost as tall as him and that he couldn't stop thinking about her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, she took a deep breath and freed herself again. "I will not tell anybody."

"And what do you want for that?" Jaime asked. His father had always taught him that nothing was for free.

"I don't want anything. I keep my word." Without one last look, Brienne opened the door wide enough for her to slip through it, and closed it behind her. Jaime looked at the door, lost in his own thoughts, and then snapped out of it, as he realized that he had to leave somehow really quick.

* * *

_Four years later_

With his arms crossed over his bare chest, already changed into his crimson pants he always wore for boxing, and his hair pulled back in a short ponytail, he stood in the hallway, waiting for her to appear on the other side.

After his encounter with Brienne, he did manage to flee out of the room without anyone noticing it. To his surprise, Brienne kept her word and didn't tell anyone out him or Cersei. He doubted that she was still a Lioness-fan though. But she did fulfill her dream, which really surprised Jaime.

Only a few months later, he had heard about a rookie, that was a woman and was surprisingly good. Without her knowing, he went to a couple of her fights and had to admit that she was not good, but really, really good. Her official nickname was _Brienne The Blue_, because of her all blue outfit – Jaime liked to think it was because of her eyes, even though disappointingly no article ever mentioned her astonishing eyes –, but all the other boxers called her _The Beauty_ behind her back. Her looks haven't improved in the slightest, on the contrary. Someone had broken her nose again and her teeth were crooked. However, she never lost any fight.

And now, she was rewarded for it. Today was the first day of the championship and she was the first woman to participate. Her eyes had glittered even more than he remembered, making them even more beautiful.

Suddenly, Jaime could see a figure appear down the hallway. He straighten his back and smiled his best smile. Brienne took a sip from her water bottle, still sweaty from her fight against Red Ronnet, who she had beaten especially violently. He had heard some rumors that they had met in Highgarden, but never bothered to dick deeper. "Hello, darling," he said cheerfully, as if he hadn't waited for her.

Brienne stopped dead in her tracks and took a moment to look at him. Jaime noticed sourly – even though his smile didn't fall – that she grew a few inches and was now taller than him. Well, that sucked. On the other side, she blushed pretty badly as she noticed his bare chest.

"Lannister," she said finally, though Jaime couldn't really place the emotion in her voice. She tried to let it sound like annoyance, but there was actually something else. "Didn't even recognize you without the wig."

"Ah, well, it seems like my sister wanted it back."

"Did she" was all she said and then started to walk past him. But Jaime hadn't waited for almost ten minutes just to let her go like that. Easily he fell into her step. She frowned, but didn't say anything. Instead she just took another sip.

"You were pretty good out there," he said, trying to sound as sincere as he could. It wasn't that easy for him.

"Do you mock me?" Brienne asked. "I'm the first woman in a championship and I did it all by myself."

"It was a compliment, no mockery. You have to stop thinking that everyone will make fun of you, darling."

"Call me darling one more time and you don't have to ask Red Ronnet how painful my punches are."

"Who doesn't like a good, feisty woman?" Jaime laughed, though Brienne still frowned. But she didn't punch him which was a good sign, wasn't it? "I would really like to fight against you. I mean, I would clearly win, but still. It would be fun."

"Who knows. Maybe we will get the chance." They have reached her locker door and she turned around, one hand already on the door knob. There was the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Don't you have a fight you have to get ready for?" Without waiting for his answer – but looking at him one last time with that almost-smile –, she entered her locker room and closed the door behind her.

Jaime thought about just entering her room to annoy her, but decided that she was right. He had to get ready – at least get his cloves – so he went back to his own locker room. On a table in the corner of the room was a basket, covered with a deep blue blanket, and Jaime was pretty sure, that he didn't order it. Curious, he got closer and looked for a note. There was none. He lifted the blanket, blinked and started to laugh.

It was filled with mangoes.

* * *

A/N: So, yeah, just a short one-shot because I really wanted to have something for you guys before I'll go to London (yay, London!) for a few days, and I needed something to cheer me up (because real-life-big-and-important-decisions suck). I'm acting in a drama club and it always cheers me up to see the men poorly dress up as woman. I thought it would be fun. Beside, I was tipsy when I had that idea. Cheers! All characters belong to GRRM


End file.
